Published: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 5:07 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, April 10, 2013 at 8:10 p.m.

Firefighters fought from land and water Wednesday afternoon to extinguish a fire that set a mound of debris alight and spread into brush off U.S. 421, threatening structures along the banks of the Cape Fear River.

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The blaze sent plumes of light gray smoke wafting over the Isabel Holmes Bridge as firefighters sprayed water on the thick pile of construction debris – which one official said was about as tall as a fire engine – off Point Harbor Road, which lies across the river from Wilmington.

Complicating fire suppression efforts was a lack of hydrants in the area, which forced firefighters to truck in water from nearby the Battleship North Carolina and store it in a portable holding pool. “The biggest issue has been shuttling water from the battleship to here,” said New Hanover County spokesman Charles Smith.

Smith said about 7:40 p.m. that the fire had been extinguished, about three hours after it first broke out.

The Wilmington Fire Department's fire boat fought the blaze from the river to ensure hot spots did not flare up, while firefighters on land dug into the debris with a crane in an effort to reach fires buried deep in the pile, officials said.

<p>Firefighters fought from land and water Wednesday afternoon to extinguish a fire that set a mound of debris alight and spread into brush off U.S. 421, threatening structures along the banks of the <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic91"><b>Cape Fear River</b></a>. </p><p>The blaze sent plumes of light gray smoke wafting over the Isabel Holmes Bridge as firefighters sprayed water on the thick pile of construction debris – which one official said was about as tall as a fire engine – off Point Harbor Road, which lies across the river from Wilmington. </p><p>Complicating fire suppression efforts was a lack of hydrants in the area, which forced firefighters to truck in water from nearby the <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic33"><b>Battleship North Carolina</b></a> and store it in a portable holding pool. “The biggest issue has been shuttling water from the battleship to here,” said New Hanover County spokesman Charles Smith. </p><p>Smith said about 7:40 p.m. that the fire had been extinguished, about three hours after it first broke out. </p><p>The Wilmington Fire Department's fire boat fought the blaze from the river to ensure hot spots did not flare up, while firefighters on land dug into the debris with a crane in an effort to reach fires buried deep in the pile, officials said. </p><p>Smith said the cause of the fire was electrical.</p><p><i><a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/topic9904"><b>Brian Freskos</b></a>: 343-2327</p><p>On <a href="http://www.starnewsonline.com/section/news41"><b>Twitter</b></a>: @BrianFreskos</i></p>